Face Lifts on the Way for Aging Buildings : New looks: Once-popular Los Angeles projects that have lost their appeal are getting cosmetic surgery to boost their bottom lines.

It’s inevitable. Time marches on, and we begin to forget the once-popular and sought-after. They’ve lost their good looks and we’ve lost interest.

To recapture our attention, some may turn to a makeover, others will go as far as a face lift.

Developers are no exception.

What else is to be done with a once-popular building that’s lost its appeal? Few commercial projects are lucky enough to age gracefully, so a little cosmetic surgery often makes for just the change needed to boost their bottom line.

“It’s a challenging problem that portends the future,” said architect Thomas Landau. His Santa Monica-based firm is planning to re-create the 615 S. Flower building--once the tallest office tower in downtown Los Angeles at 20 stories. Today, the 30-year-old structure has to compete with buildings three times its height that are younger and more attractive.

The building isn’t old enough to be considered much of a landmark and its design has lost its appeal to top-tier tenants.

The answer: a new facade of travertine stone and reflective glass, rehabbed lobbies and a new entrance at 811 Wilshire Blvd.--all at a cost of $50 million.

What owners Treptow Development Co. and General Electric Investment Realty Partners want is a transformation similar to the one achieved at 655 S. Hope St. Former owner Hammerson Properties turned an eight-story, 1964 building into a 17-story tower, complete with a stepped facade and new entry.

Today, 655 S. Hope is considered nearly new and tenants have been paying new-building prices for space. Since its face lift, the building has been more than 90% leased, a fact that doubtless has its “surgeons” pleased.

Renovation work at the City National Bank Building at 606 S. Olive Street also boosted its occupancy in 1989, thanks to a new interior design and aggressive leasing headed up by owner Tishman Speyer Properties’ former partner Carl Muhlstein.

Wilshire Rexford Plaza in Beverly Hills was little more than a tired old office building three years ago. Occupancy now is well over 90% thanks to a new facade. Rents are up and the owners can afford to get more choosy about tenants.

And in Westwood, Tishman West Cos. is spending about $4 million on a new facade for the Tishman Midvale Building.

Foreign investors are starting to realize how important a face lift can be--especially in Los Angeles. Last month, Mitsui Fudosan (U.S.A.) Inc. hosted a bash to herald the new main lobby opening at the AT&T; Center in downtown Los Angeles. Mitsui Fudosan has tried giving its tower a new interior look in an effort to keep its current tenants.

Tokyo-based investor Dr. Ming Yu Tsai has finally come around to the need for a face lift at his now-infamous WCT Building just west of the Harbor Freeway on Wilshire Boulevard.

Since opening three years ago, brokers have managed to lease only 10% of the building’s 340,000 square feet of available office space. Fixtures and finishes at WCT are by no means old, but a rehab is planned nonetheless to create a new and, the owners hope, more successful image for the 37-story white elephant.

The World Chinese Trust logo atop the building is set to come down, steel hardware is being replaced with brass, oak doors are being replaced with mahogany, and new lighting and a friendlier lobby are planned. The rehab isn’t a major one, but brokers for the project hope the changes will help quell critics who don’t see any redeeming qualities at the 1100 Wilshire Blvd. building.

As all of Southern California ages, expect to see more than just rehabbed office buildings. The trend is a popular one at hotels--among them the Beverly Hilton, Regent Beverly Wilshire and the Biltmore. As of Jan. 31, the list will be joined by the Registry Hotel in Universal City. CIGNA Cos. announced plans last month to sell the 449-room hotel to the Tuntex Group, a Taiwan-based textile and petrochemical conglomerate.

Tuntex will shutter the Registry and lay off all of its employees as it embarks on a renovation to boost low occupancy rates. The Registry Hotel Corp. will not be signed to continue management of the hotel--hence a name change is expected too.

As 1990 begins, retail rehabs are on line throughout the Southland. Santa Monica Place is gearing up for a transformation that will mean goodby for many longtime tenants. Management plans to focus on more upscale shoppers, and that means structural changes and a new mix of retailers.

Mid-Wilshire Plaza Sold to Korean Group

Mid-Wilshire’s Central Plaza was sold late last year to a group of Korean investors known as Zufu Properties Co. for an estimated $92 million to $100 million. Selling the cluster of four 12-story buildings was a group headed by Heitman Properties Ltd.

Koreatown has expanded almost exponentially within the last decade, and Korean investment in Mid-Wilshire office buildings, predict local brokers, is a trend that’s expected to accelerate in the 1990s. Investment money comes both from local Koreans who have made Mid-Wilshire their home and from Korea, where government officials recently relaxed foreign investment restrictions.

Other major Korean-owned office buildings along Wilshire Boulevard include the Korea Center and Wilshire Court Financial Building.